“Bad Blood” by Max Power is a dark thriller that to me was also a well written character study. James Delaney from Ireland killed a man and a police officer in cold blood. On death row in Miami he asks his lawyer to get him a priest by the name of Martin Doyle. The father’s arrival complicates the story and brings a new dimension to the plot that quickly expands further. There is a great net of suspense in this story: The trial depends on the survival or death of another victim, meanwhile prison officer Elias is out to kill James, adding more pressure than just that of time to an already hopeless situation.The theme of the past catching up with you runs through this book beautifully and what started as a straight forward case turns into an amazingly compelling and complex story.There is a dark and tense atmosphere throughout this book, a sense of foreboding that needs not to rely on action and pyrotechnics – this is explosive like an increasingly simmering volcano, sure to erupt. Powerful and very addictive.